The Empire Plan is a unique health insurance plan designed especially for public employees in New York State. Empire Plan benefits include inpatient and outpatient hospital coverage, medical/surgical coverage, Centers of Excellence for transplants, infertility and cancer, home care services, equipment and supplies, mental health and substance abuse coverage and prescription drug coverage.
GEORGE E. PATAKI
GOVERNOR
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE
ALBANY, NEW YORK 12239
www.cs.ny.gov
DANIEL E. WALL
COMMISSIONER
JOHN F. BARR
EXECUTIVE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER
PA06-18
TO: Chief Executive Officers
FROM: Robert W. DuBois, CEBS
SUBJECT: Letter to the Chief Executive Officer - GASB Report
DATE: August 11, 2006
August 11, 2006
Dear Chief Executive Officer:
As promised in my memorandum dated June 7, 2006, regarding Governmental Accounting Standards Board and GASB 43 and 45 (PA 06-11), I have enclosed a copy of the report, Development of Recommended Actuarial Assumptions for New York State/SUNY GASB 45 Valuation prepared by the Department of Civil Service’s (DCS’s) actuarial consultant, Buck Consultants. As noted in the earlier memorandum, the DCS will not be performing any part of the Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) valuation for your agency. However, this report is being provided to you for informational purposes and contains assumptions that you may elect to use in conducting your own valuation.
This information is provided solely as a guide; each agency should assess its own demographics and healthcare environment to develop the actuarial assumptions most appropriate to its own population. Furthermore, for agencies that provide its retirees or other former employees with other post employment benefits not through NYSHIP, such as medical benefits through HMOs or other benefits such as dental and life insurance, each Participating Agency will need to determine its own actuarial assumptions appropriate for valuing these benefits.
Please refer to PA 06-11 for additional information about these assumptions and their limitations. I strongly recommend that you provide a copy of this report to your agency’s financial officer(s), as well as its financial advisor and/or independent auditor. DCS will not be able to provide any assistance with or further information about the contents of the report or GASB requirements in general. Also, our contractual agreement with Buck Consultants does not provide for direct consulting services to any NYSHIP Participating Agency. Therefore, any guidance you seek from Buck, or any other financial consultant, would be at your agency’s expense.
In addition to the enclosed report, DCS will provide census data to Participating Agencies upon request which will be current at the time it is provided and include selected information for each agency’s enrollees and covered dependents. Please ensure that your NYBEAS file is up-to-date including correctly identifying and coding retirees before requesting census data.
To request a copy of your agency’s census information or to obtain the exhibits in the attached document in Excel format, send an e-mail to David.Ellers@cs.state.ny.us and include your name, agency name & code number, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address. The census data will be transferred to CD and mailed to you; the report exhibits will be e-mailed.
I trust that you will find these resources helpful in meeting any obligations your agency may have with respect to GASB 45. If you have questions, please contact our Public Employer Liaison Unit at (518) 485-1771.
Sincerely,
Robert W. DuBois, CEBS
Director
Employee Benefits Division
Enclosures:
NYS GASB45 Valuation - Actuarial Assumptions for Release to PAs
cc: Health Benefits Administrator